and Families 4. Key Words - acf.hhs.gov

ACF

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children, Youth and Families

Administration 1. Log No: ACYF-CB-PI-99-01 2. Issuance Date: January 27, 1999

for Children 3. Originating Office: Children's Bureau

and Families 4. Key Words: Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System;

OMB Directive No. 15; Data Collection on Race

PROGRAM INSTRUCTION

TO: State Agencies Administering or Supervising the Administration of Titles IV-B and IV-E

of the Social Security Act.

SUBJECT: Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System Collection of Race

Information.

LEGAL AND RELATED REFERENCES: Section 479 of the Social Security Act; 45 CFR

1355.40; OMB Directive Number 15, "Race and Ethnic Standards for Federal Statistics and

Administrative Reporting."

PURPOSE: The purpose of this Program Instruction (PI) is to provide information to States on

required changes to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS)

collection of race data. These changes are being implemented in response to the Office of

Management and Budget's (OMB) Federal Register Notice: "Revisions to the Standards for the

Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity", 62 FR 58782, October 30, 1997.

Additionally, clarification is being provided on the accurate usage of "unable to determine" for

AFCARS reporting purposes.

BACKGROUND: Federal regulations at 45 CFR 1355.40, which implement section 479 of the

Social Security Act (the Act), set forth the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting

System (AFCARS) requirements. The purpose of AFCARS is to collect uniform, reliable

information on children who are under the placement and care responsibility of the State title IV-

B/IV-E agency, and children adopted under the auspices of the State public child welfare agency.

As of October 1, 1994, States were required to collect and submit AFCARS data semi-annually

to the Administration for Children and Families (ACF).

On October 30, 1997, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published a notice in the

Federal Register (62 FR 58782) announcing its decision concerning the revision of Statistical

Policy Directive Number 15, Race and Ethnic Standards for Federal Statistics and

Administrative Reporting. OMB's Statistical Policy standards provide a common language to

promote uniformity and comparability of data on race and ethnicity for the population groups

specified in Directive Number 15. The Department of Health and Human Services is required to

meet these standards. The revised standards have five categories for data on race: American

Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific

Islander, and White. The new standards allow individuals to identify with more than one race.

Also, there are two new categories for data on ethnicity: "Hispanic or Latino" and "Not Hispanic

or Latino."

The AFCARS currently collects information on the race and ethnicity of children in foster care

and those who have been adopted, foster parents, and adoptive parents. In order to meet the new

OMB race standards, AFCARS race elements must be modified. At this time, the collection of

racial information in AFCARS is a single response only. There are four race categories currently

allowed in AFCARS: American Indian/Alaskan Native; Asian/Pacific Islander; Black; and

White. The worker selects one race as reported to him/her, which is then submitted to AFCARS.

The current collection of "Hispanic origin" data in AFCARS is compliant with the new OMB

standards for ethnicity. The only change being made is to the name of the category. The new

name for the ethnicity category is "Hispanic or Latino Origin".

In addition to the race and ethnicity codes, AFCARS has the code "unable to determine" which is

defined as: "The specific race category is "unable to determine" because the child is very young

or is severely disabled and no person is available to identify the child's race [or Hispanic

Origin]"1. For adults, "unable to determine" is also a valid response and has the same definition

that is used for a child2. Because the definition given in the regulation for adults is the same as

that for a child, this PI will clarify the appropriate circumstances under which "unable to

determine" may be used for adults, as well as children.

INSTRUCTION: This section describes the changes which must be made to the AFCARS for

the collection of race data. As of October 1, 1999, States are required to collect race information

in the new format for AFCARS as described in paragraph "B". Beginning April 1, 2000, the

Federal AFCAR system will accept data in the new format only.

A. Race Definitions

In accordance with the OMB directive, the revised categories and definitions for use in

the collection of race data in AFCARS are as follows:

o American Indian or Alaskan Native: A person having origins in any of the

original peoples of North or South America (including Central America), and who

maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment.

o Asian: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East,

Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia,

China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand,

and Vietnam.

o Black or African American: A person having origins in any of the black racial

groups of Africa.

o Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander: A person having origins in any of

the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands.

o White: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the

Middle East, or North Africa.

B. Data collection format, instructions and clarification.

The foster care elements affected by the revisions to race are:

o Element #8, Child's race;

o Element #52, Race of first foster caretaker; and,

o Element, #54, Race of second foster caretaker.

The adoption elements affected by the revisions are:

o Element #7, Child's race;

o Element #25, Adoptive Mother's race; and,

o Element #27, Adoptive Father's race.

7. Format and instructions.

Each of the above listed elements will be formatted as follows (Note: the

numbering of the elements in the foster care file or the adoption file has not

changed; instead, the letters a-f will be added to each of the race elements.

Technical Bulletin No. 2 (Revised and attached), provides information on the

requirements for the new and expanded race file format.):

a. American Indian or Alaskan Native

b. Asian

c. Black or African American

d. Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander

e. White

f. Unable to Determine

Indicate all races (a-e) that apply with a "1". For those that do not apply, indicate

"0."

Indicate f. unable to determine" with a "1" if it applies and a "0" if it does not.

8. Additional Information and Clarification.

a. The Children's Bureau recommends that caseworkers ask children (if age

appropriate) and adults to identify all the racial categories that apply. This

is consistent with existing Children's Bureau's guidance and with the OMB

Directive. We believe that self-identification or self-reporting is the

preferred method of gathering information on race.

b. A State may have categories for race in addition to the ones required by

AFCARS; however, the additional categories must be mapped and

extracted to the AFCARS categories.

c. The Children's Bureau has identified a high percentage of children and

adults whose race and/or Hispanic origin was incorrectly reported as

"unable to determine." Additionally, during AFCARS pilot reviews the

Children's Bureau has found that States were inappropriately

mapping/defaulting missing racial and/or Hispanic origin information to

"unable to determine." States that use "unable to determine" for the race

and/or ethnicity elements because the information is missing must make

changes to their programming to be in compliance with the AFCARS

requirements. When data is missing or not known due to a worker not

asking an individual for racial or Hispanic origin information, the response

should be left blank.

The following clarifies those instances when the code "unable to determine" may

be used:

When a child is very young or is severely disabled and no person is

available to identify the child's race or Hispanic ethnicity (as in the case of

abandonment);

When an adult or child (if age appropriate) refuses to identify his or her

race or Hispanic origin;

When a parent, relative or guardian refuses to identify the child's race or

Hispanic origin.

C. Edit checks

The race data submitted will be evaluated to determine the internal consistency of the

data. The results of this evaluation will determine compliance. Changes in the edit

check(s) will be made to review all possible race combinations. The edit checks for a

valid response will be performed as follows:

0. At least one of the race categories from "a-e" is selected (coded as "1") and "f" is

coded as "0".

1. None of the race categories from "a-e" is selected (coded as "0") and "f" is coded

as "1".

2. A combination of a "1" in any category "a-e" and a "1" in "f" will result in an

error.

D. Compliance

Compliance with the race elements will be determined based on a selection of "applies"

for at least one of the categories (a through f) for each race element. Responses to foster

care and adoption race elements must meet a 90% level of tolerance to be compliant.

E. Existing data on race

For individuals who are currently coded for AFCARS purposes as "Asian/Pacific

Islander", the State will need to take the appropriate actions to update this information. If

the State collects this information as separate categories, then the programming code

needs to be changed only for extraction purposes. If these are currently combined fields

in the State's database, then the workers will need to ask the individuals their race, if it is

unknown.

The Children's Bureau is not requiring States to update the remaining race data records

for persons currently in their database.

F. Changes to the Federal AFCAR System

In order to implement the changes to the race elements in the Federal AFCAR system, the

system will not receive State submissions from April 1, 2000 to April 14, 2000. The

AFCARS data for the report period October 1, 1999 through March 31, 2000 is still due

by May 15, 2000.

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 1999

/s/ Patricia Montoya

Commissioner

Administration for Children, Youth and Families

Endnotes: 145 CFR 1355 Appendix A, Section II.II. C.1 and 2; Appendix B, Section II.II.C.1, Section

II.VI.C 245 CFR 1355 Appendix A, Section II.IX.C; Appendix B, Section II.VI.C.

Attachment: Technical Bulletin #2

Technical Bulletin #2

AFCARS File Format

REVISED: 1/27/19991,2

This technical bulletin supplements information in 45 CFR 1355.40 on file format. By following

the guidance of this bulletin, States will avoid file format errors that may cause processing failure

by the Federal AFCAR System.

Section I General File Format Information: the data file order, format, and general

guidelines for transmission.

Section II Century Date Format: four digit century date.

Section III Adoption Aggregate File Format: the format for the one-time-only

submission of the Adoption Aggregate File.

Section IV Foster Care Summary File: the format for the foster care summary file and

how the Federal AFCAR System calculates the summary file that is required

to precede the foster care detail file.

Section V Foster Care Revised Detail File Format: the revised format for the foster

care detail file.

Section VI

Adoption Summary File: the format for the adoption summary file and how

the Federal AFCAR System calculates the summary file that is required to

precede the adoption detail file.

Section VII Adoption Revised Detail File Format: the revised format for the adoption

detail file.

Section VIII Optional Explanatory Footnote File Format: the format for the optional

explanatory footnote file.

Section IX File Creation.

_________________

1Revised for century date format 5/6/1996, see ACYF-IM-CB-96-08, issued 4/17/1996

2Revised format for race categories, see ACYF-CB-PI-99-01, January 27, 1999

I. General File Format Information

A. File Order

Below is a table with the files which are to be concatenated in the proper order prior to

transmission:

Order File Name Characters

per Record

Comments

1 Foster Care Delimiter 1 @

2 Foster Care Summary File 174 One Record per File.

3 Foster Care Detailed File 197 One Record per Child.

4 Adoption Aggregate Delimiter 1 #

5 Adoption Aggregate File 168 One Record per File

6 Adoption Delimiter 1 $

7 Adoption Summary File 174 One Record per File.

8 Adoption Detailed File 111 One Record per Adoption.

9 Optional Explanatory Footnotes 253 Optional File. Multiple

records.

B. Format Guidelines

The data file which is transmitted must be in ASCII. This format is specified in Appendix

C of 45 CFR 1355. EBCDIC files will not be processed.

A Detail File must always be accompanied by a Summary File. This applies to both

Adoption and Foster Care.

Appropriate delimiters must be included with each file: The appropriate file delimiters

must be included with the corresponding data file. If a particular file is not being

submitted, DO NOT INCLUDE THE DELIMITER. For example, if a State is not

including Adoption Summary and Detail Files, then the Adoption Delimiter ($) must not

be included in the submission.

Record Number field: The record number (Foster Care Detail Submission File Element 4

and Adoption Detail Submission File Element 3) should be right justified and padded

with zeros to fill out the 12 character field.

Counts and dollars: The counts and dollar amounts should be right justified and padded

with zeros to fill out the field. A field filled with zeros indicates a count of zero. A field

filled with blanks indicates missing data.

Exception: Adoption Detail Submission File Element 36 (Monthly amount of subsidy). If data

element 35 is no, then 00000 means no subsidy amount. If data element 35 is yes, then 00000

means the subsidy amount only includes benefits under titles XIX or XX of the Social Security

Act.

Data standards: For detailed information on format standards of individual elements, see

Technical Bulletins #7 and #8.

II.Century Date Formats

AFCARS requires all date formats to accommodate century information -- either a

YYYYMMDD, YYYYMM or YYYY, where YYYY represents the four digit century year, e.g.

1996. States are required to use the 4 digit format, regardless of the reporting period, beginning

October 1, 1996 (ACYF-IM-CB-96-08).

The following table lists both the foster care and the adoption data elements which should have

the century date format.

Element

Number

Data Element Name Century Date Format

Foster Care Summary File

02 Report period ending date YYYYMM

Foster Care Detail File


05 Date of most recent periodic review YYYYMMDD

06 Child's date of birth YYYYMMDD

18 Date of first removal from home YYYYMMDD

20 Date child was discharged from last foster

care episode

YYYYMMDD

21 Date of latest removal from home YYYYMMDD

22 Removal transaction date YYYYMMDD

23 Date of placement in current foster care

setting

YYYYMMDD

45 Year of birth (1st principal caretaker) YYYY

46 Year of birth (2nd principal caretaker) YYYY

47 Date of mother's parental rights termination YYYYMMDD

48 Date of legal or putative father's parental

rights termination

YYYYMMDD

50 Year of birth (1st foster caretaker) YYYY

51 Year of birth (2nd foster caretaker) YYYY

56 Date of discharge from foster care YYYYMMDD

57 Foster care discharge transaction date YYYYMMDD

Adoption Aggregate File


Adoption Summary File


Adoption Detail File


05 Date of birth of child YYYYMM

16 Mother's year of birth YYYY

17 Father's (putative or legal) year of birth YYYY

19 Date of mother's termination of parental

rights

YYYYMMDD

20 Date of father's termination of parental rights YYYYMMDD

21 Date adoption legalized YYYYMMDD

23 Mother's year of birth YYYY

24 Father's year of birth YYYY

Optional Explanatory Footnote File

03 Report period end date YYYYMM

III. Adoption Aggregate Data File Format

A. File Description

The Adoption Aggregate data file consists of the aggregate numbers of children adopted prior to

October 1, 1994, who continued to receive title IV-E subsidies after October 1, 1994. This data is

only to be reported one time and is to be included with the first reporting period (October 1, 1994

- March 31, 1995) data submission. States are required (under §1355.40 (a)(3)) of the AFCARS

final rule) to submit this data although no penalty is prescribed. If the State is unable to provide

this information with the first data submission (covering the reporting period October 1, 1994

through March 31, 1995) the State should:

Submit an adoption aggregate file with the Adoption Aggregate file delimiter (#) and

zeros in all the count fields (data elements 2-21).

B. Format Guidelines

Element 2, Report Period Ending Date: The date in this field should be March 1995,

regardless of the actual date the file is transferred to ACF. It should be in the format of

YYYYMM: 199503.

Elements 3-22, Age Groups: The numbers in these fields should be right justified and

padded with zeros to fill out the field. A field filled with zeros indicates a count of zero.

Children are placed in categories based on their age on September 30, 1994. This date is

used for the age calculation regardless of the date the file is transferred to ACF.

Element

Number

Data Element Description Century Date

Format

Number of

characters

01 State FIPS code 2

02 Report period ending date YYYYMM 6

03 Children under age 1 receiving subsidies 8

04 Children age 1 receiving subsidies 8


















22 Children over age 18 receiving subsidies 8

Total Characters 168

IV. Foster Care Summary File

A. Foster Care Summary File Format

Element Data Element Description Century Date

Format

Number of

characters

01 Number of records 8


03 Children in care who are under

age 1

8

04 Children in care who are age 1 8


















22 Children in care who are over age

18

8


B. Generating the Foster Care Summary File

Each foster care summary file that is submitted will be compared to a foster care summary file

that is generated by the Federal AFCAR System. This will ensure that the data has not been

corrupted during transmission. If the submitted file does not match the generated file, the foster

care detail data file will not be validated and the State will incur a penalty for the foster care file.

Therefore, it is important that States create summary files in exactly the same way that the

Federal AFCAR System generates summary files. The Foster Care Summary file will NOT be

used for analysis.

Below are directions for creating the Foster Care Summary File:

Element 1, Number of Records:

1. Represents the count of the number of records in the detail file. This number

should represent the total number of records in the detail file. It should NOT be

calculated by adding together elements 3-22 (the calculated ages of children) as

these calculations will exclude children with invalid birth dates. Therefore,

element 1 will not necessarily be the same as the sum of all the numbers of

children in each age group. (See Elements 3-22 below.)

2. Right justify the count and add leading zeros.

Element 2, Report Period Ending Date:

3. Insert a valid report period end date for submission. This date should be in the

YYYYMM format and it should end with either 09 for September or 03 for March.

Elements 3-22, Age Groups:

4. Validate the child birth dates in the detail file. If a child birth date is either

missing or out-of-range (i.e., an invalid date), that record should NOT be included

when calculating the age groups. If the file contains invalid birth dates, the total

number of records submitted will not be equal to the sum of children in each age

group.

5. Definition of the variables used when calculating the count of children in each age

group:

Report_date_month. This variable will have a value of either September (09) or March

(03), depending upon which of the two semi-annual reporting periods is relevant.

Report_date_year. This variable should be in the YYYY format representing the four

digit century year, e.g. 1996.

Birth_month. This variable is the month of the child's birth.

Birth_year. This variable is the year of the child's birth and should be in the YYYY format

representing the four digit century year, e.g. 1996.

6. Calculate the ages of children in care for each age group using the following

decision rule:

If Birth_month > Report_date_month --- age = (Report_date_year -

>

No

Birth_year)

|

| Yes

v

age = (Report_date_year - Birth_year) -

1

7. Note that an age of zero represents children less than one year old.

8. Right justify the count for each age group and add leading zeros.

V. Foster Care Revised Detail File Format

As a result of changes to the Office of Management and Budget's Statistical Policy Directive

Number 15, Race and Ethnic Standards for Federal Statistics and Administrative Reporting,

individuals are now able to select multiple races when responding to questions regarding their

race. As required in ACYF-CB-PI-99-01, issued January 27, 1999, States are to modify their

AFCARS to collect and submit race data in the new format, effective October 1, 1999. Below is

the table with the foster care revised detail file format.


Format

Number of

characters

Element


02 Report period

end date

YYYYMM 6

03 Local Agency

FIPS code

5

04 Record number 12

05 Date of most

recent periodic

YYYYMMDD 8

review

06 Child's date of

birth

YYYYMMDD 8

07 Sex 1

08 Race

08a American

Indian or

Alaskan Native

1

08b Asian 1

08c Black or

African

American

1

08d Native

Hawaiian or

Other Pacific

Islander

1

08e White 1

08f Unable to

Determine

1

09 Hispanic or

Latino origin

1

10 Disabilities 1

11 Mental

retardation

1

12 Visually/hearing

impaired

1

13 Physically

disabled

1

14 Emotionally

disturbed

1

15 Other medical

condition

requiring

special

1

16 Child ever

adopted

1

17 Age at previous

adoption

1

18 Date of first

removal from

home

YYYYMMDD 8

19 Total number of

removals

2

20 Date child was

discharged from

last foster care

episode

YYYYMMDD 8

21 Date of latest

removal from

home

YYYYMMDD 8

22 Removal

transaction date

YYYYMMDD 8

23 Date of

placement in

current foster

care setting

YYYYMMDD 8

24 Number of

placements

2

25 Removal from

home

1

26 Physical abuse 1

27 Sexual abuse 1

28 Neglect 1

29 Alcohol abuse

(parent)

1

30 Drug abuse

(parent)

1

31 Alcohol abuse

(child)

1

32 Drug abuse

(child)

1

33 Child disability 1

34 Child's behavior

problem

1

35 Death of

parent(s)

1

36 Incarceration of

parent(s)

1

37 Caretaker's

inability to cope

1

38 Abandonment 1

39 Relinquishment 1

40 Inadequate

housing

1

41 Current

placement

setting

1

42 Placement (out

of State)

1

43 Case plan goal 1

44 Caretaker

family structure

1

45 Year of birth

(1st principal

caretaker)

YYYY 4

46 Year of birth

(2nd principal

caretaker)

YYYY 4

47 Date of mother's

termination of

parental rights

YYYYMMDD 8

48 Date of legal or

putative father's

termination of

parental rights

YYYYMMDD 8

49 Foster family

structure

1

50 Year of birth

(1st foster

caretaker)

YYYY 4

51 Year of birth

(2nd foster

caretaker)

YYYY 4

52 Race (1st foster

caretaker)

52a American

Indian or

Alaskan Native

1

52b Asian 1

52c Black or

African

American

1

52d Native

American or

Other Pacific

Islander

1

52e White 1

52f Unable to

Determine

1

53 Hispanic or

Latino origin

(1st foster

caretaker)

1

54 Race (2nd foster

caretaker)

54a American

Indian or

Alaskan Native

1

54b Asian 1

54c Black or

African

American

1

54d Native

Hawaiian or

Other Pacific

Islander

1

54e White 1

54f Unable to

Determine

1

55 Hispanic or

Latino origin

(2nd foster

caretaker)

1

56 Date of

discharge from

foster care

YYYYMMDD 8

57 Foster care

discharge

transaction date

YYYYMMDD 8

58 Reason for

discharge

1

59 Title IV-E

(foster care)

1

60 Title IV-E

(adoption

assistance)

1

61 Title IV-A 1

62 Title IV-D 1

63 Title XIX 1

64 SSI or other

benefits

1

65 None of the

above source of

federal support

1

66 Amount of

monthly subsidy

5


VI. Adoption Summary File

A. Adoption Summary File Format


Format

Number of

characters

01 Number of records 8


03 Children adopted who are under

age 1

8

04 Children adopted who are age 1 8


















22 Children adopted who are over

age 18

8


B. Generating the Adoption Summary File

Below are the steps to follow when creating your adoption summary file. Each adoption

summary file that is submitted will be compared to an adoption summary file that is generated by

the Federal AFCAR System. This will ensure that there has been no corruption of the data during

transmission. If the submitted file does not match the generated file, the adoption detail file will

not be validated and the State will incur a penalty for the adoption file. Therefore, it is important

that States create summary files in exactly the same way that the Federal AFCAR System

generates summary files.

These files will NOT be used for analysis.

Below are directions for creating the Adoption Summary File:

Element 1, Number of Records:

o Count of the number of records in the detail file. This number should represent

the total number of records in the detail file. It should NOT be calculated by

adding together elements 3-22 (the calculated ages of children), as these

calculations will exclude children with invalid birth dates. Therefore, the value for

element 1 will not necessarily be the same as the sum of the numbers of children

in each age group. (See Elements 3-22 below.)

o Right justify the count and add leading zeros.

Element 2, Report Period Ending Date:

3. Insert a valid report period end date for submission. This date should be in the YYYYMM

format and it should end with either 09 for September or 03 for March.

o Elements 3-22, Age Groups:

4. Validate the child birth dates in the detail data file. If a child birth date is either missing

or out-of-range (i.e., an invalid date), that record should NOT be included when

calculating the age groups. If the file contains invalid birth dates, the number of records

submitted will not be equal to the sum of children in each age group.

5. Definition of the variables used when calculating the count of children in each age group:

Report_date_month. This variable will have a value of either September (09) or March

(03), depending upon which of the two semi-annual reporting periods is

relevant.Report_date_year. This variable should be in the YYYY format representing the

four digit century year, e.g. 1996.Birth_month. This variable is the month of the child's

birth.Birth_year. This variable is the year of the child's birth and should be in the YYYY

format representing the four digit century year, e.g., 1996.

6. Calculate the ages of adopted children in each age group using the following decision

rule:

If Birth_month > Report_date_month --->

No

age = (Report_date_year - Birth_year)

|

| Yes

v

age = (Report_date_year - Birth_year) - 1

7. Note that an age of zero represents children less than one year old. 8. Right justify the count for each age group and add leading zeros.

VII. Adoption Detail Revised File Format

As a result of changes to the Office of Management and Budget's Statistical Policy Directive

Number 15, Race and Ethnic Standards for Federal Statistics and Administrative Reporting,

individuals are now allowed to select multiple races when responding to questions regarding

their race. As required in ACYF-CB-PI-99-01, issued January 27, 1999, States are to modify

their AFCARS to collect and submit race data in the new format, effective 10/1/1999. Below is

the table with the adoption revised detail file format.


Format

Number of

characters


02 Report period end date YYYYMM 6

03 Record number 12

04 State agency involvement 1

05 Date of birth of child YYYYMM 6

06 Sex 1

07 Race

07a American Indian or Alaskan

Native

1

07b Asian 1

07c Black or African American 1

07d Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific

Islander

1

07e White 1

07f Unable to Determine 1

08 Hispanic or Latino origin 1

09 Special needs 1

10 Primary basis for special needs 1

11 Mental retardation 1

12 Visually or hearing impaired 1

13 Physically disabled 1

14 Emotionally disturbed 1

15 Other medically diagnosed

condition

1

16 Mother's year of birth YYYY 4

17 Father's (putative or legal) year

of birth

YYYY 4

18 Mother married 1

19 Date of mother's termination of

parental rights

YYYYMMDD 8

20 Date of father's termination of

parental rights

YYYYMMDD 8

21 Date adoption legalized YYYYMMDD 8

22 Adoptive parents family structure 1

23 Mother's year of birth YYYY 4

24 Father's year of birth YYYY 4

25 Adoptive mother's race


Native

1

25b Asian 1



Islander

1

25e White 1


26 Hispanic or Latino origin mother 1

27 Adoptive father's race


Native

1

27b Asian 1



Islander

1

27e White 1


28 Hispanic or Latino origin father 1

29 Stepparent 1

30 Other relative 1

31 Foster parent 1

32 Other non-relative 1

33 Child was placed from 1

34 Child was placed by 1

35 Child receiving a monthly

subsidy

1

36 Monthly amount 5

37 Title IV-E adoption assistance 1

Total

Characters

111

VIII. Optional Explanatory Footnote File Format

Below is the table with the optional explanatory footnote file format.

Element

Number


Format

Number of

characters

01 Header ("%%") 2


03 Report period end date YYYYMM 6

04 File reference 1

05 Data element reference 2

06 Footnote text 240


See Bulletin #3 for instructions on creating optional explanatory footnotes.

________________ 5This total does not include the carriage return/line feed.

IX. AFCARS File Creation

A. Creating a transmission file from a PC

1. Create an ASCII transmission file using the file format listed in Section I above. Be sure

all records end with a carriage return/line feed. This is the standard format for DOS

ASCII files. Note that the carriage return/line feed will not appear if you edit the file on

the PC using a standard editor.

2. Do not include spaces after the delimiter in the first record. All other records may contain

spaces prior to the carriage return/line feed.

3. Transfer the transmission file from the PC, as a binary image file, to the mainframe

where CONNECT:DIRECT resides. Use either a fixed length or variable length record

format. Any LRECL (record length) size is acceptable for either record format.

Recommendation:For efficient use of space we encourage using a fixed length record format

with the following parameters:

RECFM = FB

LRECL = 255

BLKSIZE = 22950 (must be an even multiple of LRECL)

B. Creating a transmission file from a mainframe

1. Create an ASCII transmission file using the file format listed in Section I above. DO

NOT include a carriage return/line feed at the end of each record.

2. Use either a variable length or fixed length record format.

Recommendation: For efficient use of space we encourage using a variable length

record format.

a. If using a variable length record format, be sure to use an LRECL that is 4 bytes longer

than the largest record in the transmission file. The extra 4 bytes are for the RDW (record

descriptor word) which gives the length of the record). The following format will

accommodate the largest possible footnote:

RECFM = VB

LRECL = 257

BLKSIZE = any large number, e.g., 20000

b. If using a fixed length record format, be sure to use an LRECL that can accommodate the

largest record in the transmission file. Do not allow extra bytes for an RDW. The

following format will accommodate thelargest possible footnote:

RECFM = FB

LRECL = 253

and Families 4. Key Words - acf.hhs.gov

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